CORRECTION: This story should have said that the new rules would go into effect Jan. 1, 2015, not Jan. 15, and that failure to pick up dog waste will not result in a suspension of off-leash privileges.

Tens of thousands of green tag holders will need to re-apply for their licenses and attend a class on the rules of the program that allows dogs to walk off-leash on many Boulder open space trails under a proposed "enhancement" to the program.

Dogs with green tags are supposed to be under voice and sight control of their owners, but there is no requirement that owners demonstrate that level of control.

If You Go

What: Boulder City Council

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Boulder Municipal Building, 1777 Broadway

Info: To read the memo on the green tag program and the complete council agenda, go to http://bit.ly/1i1Zs8y. Because the ordinance is on its first reading, no public hearing is scheduled. Note the meeting is on Wednesday this week, not Tuesday.

Instead, owners pay $15 (or $18.75 if they live outside Boulder) and promise that they've watched a video explaining the rules. To lose green-tag privileges, owners or dogs have to be convicted of violations three times within two years.

A city study of green-tag compliance found roughly half of dogs didn't come when called, though advocates for dogs on open space criticized the study's methodology.

The requirement that dog owners — or guardians, in the preferred Boulder terminology — attend a class to keep their dogs' green-tag privileges comes along with increased enforcement around dog behavior and fewer chances for dogs or people to break the rules and still keep their tags.

Steve Armstead, an environmental planner with Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, said the department has had a lot of feedback over the years from both residents and visitors that dogs on open space are one of the most frequent sources of user conflict in the system.

Kelly Stassberg and her sister Emily play with their dogs Sadie and Lucy, off leash, along the Sanitas Valley Trail on Friday. (David R. Jennings / Broomfield Enterprise)

"We're trying to have a program that can improve compliance with voice and sight control and a program that will work long into the future and ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone and a program that protects natural resources," he said. "We found room for improvement in compliance and ensuring that dogs under voice and sight aren't causing impacts on other users and on resources."

The Boulder City Council will take its first vote on the ordinance at its meeting Wednesday, with a second reading and a public hearing to follow later this spring.

If the ordinance passes, it would go into effect Jan. 1, 2015, to give current tag holders time to re-apply and comply with the education requirement.

The city made an effort last year to identify tag holders who had moved away or were no longer active for other reasons. After that imperfect culling of the rolls, the city was still left with 32,000 green tag holders.

Anyone who wants to keep using the green-tag program will need to apply before next January for a new tag and take the necessary class.

Armstead said the content and length of the classes is still being worked out, but organizers are aiming for roughly an hour. The goal is to have a class that is informative and covers all the bases, but is not too onerous a requirement, he said.

The other proposed changes are:

Green tags will have to be renewed every year.

The fee structure will be changed to more strongly favor Boulder residents, who will have to pay $13 for a tag and $5 for renewal, over out-of-city residents. Boulder County residents will have to pay $33 for a tag and $20 for renewal, and non-county residents will have to pay $75 for a tag and $30 for renewal.

Dogs convicted of aggressive behavior or endangering wildlife will lose green-tag privileges after the first offense, though they can regain those privileges by demonstrating they are under voice-and-sight control.

Dogs can also lose privileges if they or their owners are convicted of two less serious violations in a two-year time span.

Off-leash violations in city parks will no longer count against green-tag violations, though they could still result in a ticket for the owner. Instead only violations in areas governed by the green-tag program will count.

Fines for violations will increase to $100 for a first offense, instead of $50, and to $200 for a second offense and $300 for a third offense. The penalty for going off leash while under suspension would also be $300.

The proposed changes got mixed reviews from dog owners and other users of open space.

One woman who thought more dogs need to be under better control didn't want to give her name because "people in Boulder assume everyone is a dog person."

Brian Beck, of Highlands Ranch, and his friend Colin Argys, of Broomfield, both went to the University of Colorado and frequently use the open space system in Boulder, where Argys still works. They don't have dogs themselves, but Beck said his girlfriend has a green tag for her dog, a Pomeranian.

They said the green tag should remain "cheap and easy" to get, but they supported the idea of classes for dogs or people who violate the rules.

"One and done is too extreme," Beck said. "But after one violation, then you have to do the class."

Beck and Argys said the vast majority of dogs on open space are well behaved, but Beck also admitted that his girlfriend's dog chases wildlife.

"If he sees a deer, he's gone," he said.

Eli Kalen, who works at Ozo Coffee, frequently takes his Australian shepherd Frida off-leash on open space trails.

"She gets pent up," he said. "She needs to run around and sniff stuff."

Kalen said he doesn't see any need to change the program, and the stricter rules set dogs up for failure.

"Mostly it's not a problem," he said. "Dogs are never 100 percent compliant."

But Fawn Talmon, a visual merchandiser for Patagonia, said asking people with dogs to take the time to learn the rules is a good idea.

She used to regularly walk her dog off leash, but the dog is older now and doesn't hear well. Talmon said she's never had a problem with other dogs on open space, but she also knows not all dog owners would stop going off leash in her circumstances.

"I feel like people just go online to get the tag and don't take the time to learn the rules," she said. "I feel like it's a privilege, but people take it for granted."

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